ProTerra SES Certification

ProTerra Certification Program for Social and Environmental Responsibility

The Cert ID ProTerra certification program is a new program for certification of socially and environmentally responsible food and feed production. ProTerra was the first certification standard to incorporate the Basel Criteria and to be offered to soy producers.

Introduced in 2006, the ProTerra Certification Program now operates globally as a certifiable code of conduct and best practices for corporate social and environmental responsibility. ProTerra provides impartial, third-party verification that food and feedstuffs have been produced sustainably, in a manner that is both socially and environmentally responsible.

Certification to the PrTerra standard tells consumers, NGOs, and governmental authorities that a company is operating to a high level of social and environmental responsibility. At the same time, the ProTerra program is structured in a manner that is compatible with the economic and operational requirements of the food and agricultural industries.

The ProTerra standards comply fully with the Basel Criteria, as well as with the principles of other important international accords on social and environmental responsibility, and responsible agricultural management such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Labor Organization Conventions and Recommendations, and the UN Norms with Regard to Human Rights. It also incorporates the essential elements of social responsibility standards, such as SA8000, and agricultural practices standards, such as EurepGAP.

ProTerra considers all critical dimensions of social and environmental responsibility, requiring:

• Compliance with all relevant national laws on environmental protection and human welfare,
• Management of agronomic factors such as soil and water quality, chemical use, crop protection methods, and avoidance of genetically modified seeds and inputs,
• Preservation of fragile features of the ecosystem, such as primary forest, rain forest, primary savanna and wetlands,
• Adherence to socially responsible practices, such as paying fair wages and fair prices, prohibiting child labor and forced labor, protecting workers' rights, welfare, security, and safety, and operating ethically regarding land tenure and ownership,
• Contributing to the economic, social, and environmental development of the community,
• Assuring traceability of each lot of product, thereby enabling the buyer to confirm responsible production of each specific product lot.

ProTerra utilizes the principle of continuous improvement, in which an organization can be certified initially based on compliance with core requirements, as long as it implements a systematic plan for achieving compliance with all remaining program elements.

Please contact us at info@genetic-id.com for further information on this certification program.

LINK DISCLAIMER

Genetic ID may provide links to web pages which are not part of the Genetic ID website or genetic-id.com domain. These sites are used by permission; however, they are not under Genetic ID control, and Genetic ID is not responsible for the information or links you may find there. Genetic ID is providing these links only as a convenience. The presence of these links on any Genetic ID website is not intended to imply Genetic ID endorsement of that site, but to provide a convenient link to relevant sites which are managed by other organizations, companies, or individuals.